# Spacex Falcon Heavy
*launch services*

## Specifications
- **merge suggestions**: [{"slug":"spacex-falcon-9","name":"Spacex Falcon 9","score":0.736842105263158,"matchedOn":"slug","matchedValue":"spacex-falcon-9"},{"slug":"spacex-transporter","name":"SpaceX Transporter Smallsat Rideshare Programme","score":0.48,"matchedOn":"alias","matchedValue":"SpaceX Smallsat Rideshare"}]
- **entity type**: launch_service
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-16
- **verified by**: community
- **claim status**: unclaimed
- **attributes**: {"merge_suggestions":"[{\"slug\":\"spacex-falcon-9\",\"name\":\"Spacex Falcon 9\",\"score\":0.736842105263158,\"matchedOn\":\"slug\",\"matchedValue\":\"spacex-falcon-9\"},{\"slug\":\"spacex-transporter\",\"name\":\"SpaceX Transporter Smallsat Rideshare Programme\",\"score\":0.48,\"matchedOn\":\"alias\",\"matchedValue\":\"SpaceX Smallsat Rideshare\"}]"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
Falcon Heavy is a three-core orbital launch vehicle that combines a central booster with two side boosters, each equivalent to a Falcon 9 first stage. Total first-stage thrust comes from 27 Merlin 1D engines (nine per core); the second stage uses a single Merlin 1D Vacuum engine. Propellants are RP-1/LOX across all stages. The vehicle shares the 5.2 m diameter fairing with Falcon 9.[^wiki-falcon-heavy] Payload to LEO is 63,800 kg expended or 50,000 kg with all cores recovered.[^wiki-falcon-heavy] Payload to GTO is 26,700 kg expended or 16,800 kg with side boosters recovered.[^wiki-falcon-heavy] Side-booster recovery is routine; centre-core recovery is mission-dependent.[^gunters-falcon-heavy] Maiden flight was 2018-02-06; first operational payload flight was 2019-04-11.[^gunters-falcon-heavy] The vehicle is currently active.[^wiki-falcon-heavy] EO-relevant launches include the COSMIC-2 constellation (2019, GNSS radio occultation for meteorology and ionospheric sensing) and STP-2 (2019, a DoD technology demonstration mission).[^gunters-falcon-heavy]

## Sources
- [gunters-falcon-heavy] | Falcon-Heavy - Gunter's Space Page | https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/falcon-heavy.htm | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-16
- [gunters-falcon-heavy-b5] | Falcon-Heavy Block 5 detail - Gunter's Space Page | https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau_det/falcon-9-heavy_b5.htm | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-16
- [wiki-falcon-heavy] | Falcon Heavy - Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-16

---
Source: https://eo-atlas.org/launch_services/spacex-falcon-heavy
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)